My role
UX/UI Designer & Researcher
Teammates roles
CEO
CFO
Lead Designer
Programs used
Figma
UserTesting
Asana
The Product
Brick is a fintech startup that aimed to allow budding real estate developers to raise money for real estate projects via crowdfunding. It gave a way for developers to avoid taking massive loans from banks, and it allowed investors to make money on the long-term success of a business.
My Contributions
I conducted extensive user research by making surveys and synthesizing my findings, interviewing stakeholders, leading usability tests, and then suggesting changes based upon findings. I also made medium and high fidelity wireframes in Figma.
A significant amount of my time at Brick was spent conducting user research and making wireframes in Figma.
Our team understood the importance of UX and research in the early stages of product development. We therefore used the following research methods in order to test our problem statement’s validity and then establish user personas.
Interviews with industry experts in order to gauge the validity of our problem statement.
Focus groups with small business owners in order to gauge the validity of our problem statement.
Surveys with potential investors in order to gauge willingness to spend.
Our research allowed us to find out that industry experts believed our problem statement was legitimate, that small business owners would benefit from our proposed solution, and that potential investors were excited by the financial gains that they could reap. This motivated us to continue working and then build out the following two personas.
We believed that having user research serve as our guide would set us up for success in the long run.
Anthony Roberts
Small Business Owner
Anthony owns a small business or is an aspiring small business owner. He would use Brick in order to raise the capital needed to purchase real estate or expand his business.
Motivations
Wants to quit his day job and pursue his dream.
Believes in the value of small businesses for the economy.
Wants to support his community with high-quality goods.
Pain points
Raising money to start a small business usually requires a very hefty, and risky, loan from a bank with steep interest rates.
Usually has to begin paying back the aforementioned loan almost immediately after acquiring it.
Highly discouraged from starting his business due to aforementioned risk. This consequently affects the overall wellbeing and availability of small businesses across the country.
Goals
Acquire capital in a more forgiving and risk-adverse manner.
Launch, or expand, his business with more confidence.
Our goal with Brick was to build a platform that would allow Anthony to crowdfund the capital needed to launch his business.
Tom Kellers
Potential Investor
Tom is a potential investor that is looking for new opportunities to invest in. He has a particular interest in crypto and is looking for stable, long-term returns.
Motivations
Wants to invest in a stable and reliable long-term solution.
Heavily interested in investments in the digital, crypto-related spaces.
Believes in the value of small businesses and is glad to support them.
Pain points
Does not trust conventional investment opportunities.
Needs to feel that an online investment is secure and not a scam.
Needs to feel that a business owner, and their consequent business plan, are sound and thoroughly fleshed out in order to feel motivated to invest.
Goals
Make money from a secure, long-term investment.
Support small businesses.
Our goal was to build a platform that made Tom feel comfortable and secure investing his money with Brick.
Anthony Roberts
Small Business Owner
We decided to design
a page where Anthony can list his property
because
he needed a way to display his business idea and subsequent documents to potential investors.
We decided to design
a page where Anthony can view all of his properties at a glance
because
a small business owner could have multiple properties listed and would want to see how each of his properties are doing from a top-down view.
We decided to design
a visible profile that Anthony could build out
because
establishing his legitimacy as a competent business owner, as opposed to some random person on the internet, could instill confidence in potential investors to pull the trigger.
Tom Kellers
Potential Investor
We decided to design
a page where Tom can view listed properties
because
he needed a way to browse potential investments and choose the ones he wanted to invest in.
We decided to design
a page where Tom could view all of his investments at a glance
because
an investor could have multiple ongoing investments and would want to see the status of each of his investments from a top-down view.
We decided to design
a space where Tom could view profiles of business owners that had properties listed
because
he may be more motivated to invest in a business owner, as opposed to simply investing in their properties, if they seemed competent to him.
Personas are more than just a buzzword. They serve as the compass for exceptionally usable and intuitive designs.
We then used the above list of persona needs to produce the following designs.
My time at Brick taught me how to
Conduct preliminary research for a brand new product.
Translate said research into tangible designs in Figma.
Lead usability tests in order to verify my designs.
Work in an agile fashion.
You can reach me at cemallatifozgur@gmail.com with any inquiries :)